


Don't Understand

by cruelest_month



Category: Nathan Barley (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-19
Updated: 2012-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-31 10:08:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruelest_month/pseuds/cruelest_month
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times that Claire misunderstood her two flatmates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Understand

She didn’t notice Jones’ new toy –he had so many of them that she ignored them unless he shoves some stuffed animal or noisy gadget in her face— until she almost tripped over it. “Where’s this from?” she shouted.

“Dan.”

Unusual and yet like him, really. Giving Jones a shiny blue plastic TARDIS that would have cost less than twenty quid instead of actually giving any real sum of money.

She stared long and hard at it until her flatmate slipped the headphones off his ears and tilted his head. “Something wrong, Claire?” Perhaps he was expecting her to complain about all the noise or simply go about her business.

“You shouldn’t leave it lying about.”

“Sorry.”

He didn’t much look it, but then she didn’t think Jones thought it was a big deal and it wasn’t. In of itself, a little blue thing wasn’t a big deal.

She picked it up and set it down next to one of his keyboards. 

“You like it?” he asked.

“I suppose.”

“It’s small,” he admitted, picking it up and grinning at it. “But the top lights up and makes all kinds of sounds.”

She wanted to point out that it was useless and pointless. Like Dan. And she wanted to smash it because she could.

Claire was confusing Jones though. He looked sort of perplexed and kept blinking at her like a tiny owl or pigeon. Perhaps he’d had too much coffee or too much of something else since it was later in the afternoon and it was hard to tell sometimes. “You look upset.”

“I’m fine.”

“Alright.”

She forced a smile. “Honestly, it’s nothing.”

“I can keep it somewhere else,” he assured her, holding the TARDIS a little tighter. He wasn’t stupid after all and he couldn’t remain oblivious with her glaring at him so she just nodded and went into the kitchen.

A few days later, she actually witnessed an unusual transaction between Dan and Jones in which some money traded pockets. It was a rare event and somewhat startling like discovering of a new breed of swan.

It wasn’t much, but Jones took it and looked pleased. 

She stood there in the doorway, impossible for them to notice or even hear her over the music that kept playing. Even when the music faded a bit all Jones did was move over to the couch and found his way into Dan’s lap. Dan didn’t pay much attention to him, but he didn’t push him away even when Jones pressed his lips against his neck and then leaned against his shoulder. 

_How can he like that? Or want that?_ Claire wanted to know. _Does Dan think this is all right?_ Her hands curved into fists and eventually she pulled the door open and slammed it. Dan did shove Jones away then towards the floor. He caught himself and didn’t look upset so much as startled. Claire winced before going into the kitchen again. 

When Jones joined her about four minutes later and set the TARDIS down on the table, she made him toasted cheese without him even asking and then played several games of Twenty Questions to keep him from going back into the living room.

*

She broached the subject nervously, but that seemed to help Jones pay attention to her and he offered her a very warm smile until she found herself smiling back. “Do you like men?”

“I like lots of people.”

“No, I mean, do you… fancy men?”

“I fancy a lot of—”

Claire sighed. “Jones.”

He grinned and shrugged. “Alright. I do. Probably. Why?”

“I was thinking… How would you like me to set you up with one of my friends?”

“For a gig? It is at a gay club? Because that’s fine. I don’t mind playing at those.”

“No.” He wasn’t sure what to make of that and she laughed instead of sighing again. “For a date, Jones.”

He looked remarkably young when he looked down at his Converse sneakers and shook his head. “I don’t really date, you know.”

“I know that’s why I thought I’d help.”

“Why?”

“I think you have more to offer people than…” _Than your music. Than Dan does._ “Than… Well, I think you spend too much time in this house and it would be nice for you to get to meet people when you’re not working.”

Looking up at her, he looked a little panicked and possibly a little defensive. “I meet people. I’m fine.”

“I know you do and I’m not…” 

“I go out. I have mates,” Jones said, pulling his knees up onto the couch.

Ah, Claire had actually thought he’d react that way. No one liked learning that someone was worried about them or thought they needed to branch out more, but people liked helping other people. Jones did too even if he wasn’t actually very good at it so she quickly changed tactics. “I know that. It’s just that I have a friend and he could really use some more company. And he’s less outgoing than you and he’s very quiet and I think you’d be good for him. Even just as a mate.”

He considered this somewhat sourly and a little suspiciously, but he wasn’t really good at suspecting people of ulterior motives so eventually his features softened and he considered the proposal. “Does he like music?”

“Some.”

“Wot’s he like?”

“Computers. You know, machines. Technology. Video games.”

“He could use real friends then,” Jones mumbled. “Alright. But if I don’t like him, I’m not going to be his mate.”

“You might like him.”

“Then we’ll see.”

*

“You’re trying to set Jones up with Pingu,” Dan said in a flat tone of voice even though he was glaring at her. He had been glaring at her all day long, in fact, but he’d only said something once Jones had gone out to get more supplies and a haircut. 

“Who told you that?”

“Who do you think?”

“Nathan.”

“Yes, and I’m sure he’s still laughing about it as we speak. What the hell do you think you’re doing, Claire?”

“Nathan already told you.”

“All right. Fine. Why are you doing it?”

“Why can’t I do it? Pingu has no friends and Jones… Well, he’s Jones. I think some normal people would do him good. It would be good for him to get out of the house.”

“Out of the house? He goes out all the bloody time, Claire. He’s not being kept chained up in a bell tower.”

“Yes, but he could stand to be more social.”

“He’s social enough, thank you very much. Anyway, he’s happy here. This is his house for fuck’s sake.”

“Why are you upset about Jones possibly making a new friend?”

“Because he’s one of your friends.” 

“One of Nathan’s friends.”

“That too.”

“Pingu’s harmless.”

Dan snorted. “If you want to fix people, don’t fix Jones. Fix Nathan. Give him a lobotomy.”

“Why can’t Jones have friends?”

“He has friends.”

“Why can’t he have one more friend?”

“He doesn’t need one of your useless friends to be his friend. He doesn’t need blind dates or pity friends.”

“Jones seemed to like the idea. He hasn’t really said anything negative about it.”

“Why would he? He likes you and now you’re taking an interest in him.”

Claire sighed, wondering when Dan would just tell her why he was against the idea instead of pretending his disapproval had very much to do with the DJ’s health and happiness. “Then what’s the problem?”

Dan scowled at her and sat down on the couch. “He’s mine, Claire. My friend. I thought you didn’t even like Jones.”

“He can have other friends besides you. He already has some.”

Maybe that was the problem though. Did Jones really have other friends or were all three of them just hoping he did?

Dan shook his head and pointed a finger at her. “That’s not why you’re doing this.”

“Why am I doing this?”

“The truth is you don’t want him to be friends with me.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Christ, Dan. The truth is you’re not much of a friend.”

He frowned and his eyes narrowed slightly.

“You’re probably the worst friend I’ve ever seen. And I think he’d be happier with someone else. Especially if he wants any sort of relationship.”

“There’s nothing—”

“You’re all but using him.”

“I am not.”

“You buy him useless things and give him some money but you’re not affectionate. You’re not even nice to him.”

“That’s just your opinion,” Dan muttered dismissively before sighing. “Has he actually complained?”

“Complained?” she echoed. 

“Well? Has he complained to you about me?”

Claire wanted to lie, but she imagined it was pretty obvious that she hadn’t come up with this plan due to Jones asking her to do something for him. “No. He never does.”

“Then there’s no problem.”

“But I see a—”

“You’re busy with Nathan most of the time. I don’t know how you’re seeing anything at all that goes on around here.”

“Come on, Dan.”

“No. You can film and fix problems somewhere else. Not here. And if you need Jones to be the one to say it, he will.”

“Because you’ll tell him to?” she asked and he didn’t answer. “That’s not fair.”

“As if I cared about being fair to you.”

“Not me, you idiot. Him.”

Dan seemed to struggle between saying something, but he really didn’t need to say it. She could guess it was just about the same thing he’d said about not caring about being fair to her. 

Eventually he just opened up the laptop on the table in front of him and lit up a cigarette. She leaned over quickly, almost closing the top on his fingers. “He said yes to meeting him already and he’s going to. It might not even work, but if you ruin it, Dan… If I find out you spoke to him or did anything to influence his decisions, I swear to God everywhere you go for the rest of your life, Nathan Barley will be there.” 

Then she stalked off towards her room. 

*

Jones had liked Pingu even if he was quiet and prone to stammering and spilling things. He had spilled coffee on Nathan at one point and after that the DJ seemed permanently endeared to him.

He had been happy about it once they came home and Dan just muttered something as usual, but Jones seemed a little upset by his lack of interest. And even telling him about the stupidly amusing things that had gone wrong for Nathan didn’t really seem to get the reaction he’d been hoping for. Eventually he seemed to give up and leave, but Claire couldn’t even put a finger on what it was that Dan had done wrong. 

She found him in the kitchen doing dishes and biting his lip almost hard enough to draw blood. Claire guessed he was thinking. “That was nice,” she said before picking up a towel. The least she could do was help dry them.

“Was it?” Jones asked.

“Of course it was. You had a good time, I thought.”

“Yeah.”

“We could do it again if you like.”

Jones hesitated and for a second she was certain he was going to shake his head. Instead he quietly asked, “Can Dan come?”

“I don’t think he’d want to.”

“Can he?”

“He doesn’t like Nathan.”

“I don’t like Nathan much either.”

“Well… It’s different with Dan.”

He just kept silently doing the dishes until finally he just had one more coffee cup to wash out. 

“It’s different right now too,” Jones said and she didn’t really understand what he meant. “Just things have to be a certain way or the rhythm of things gets thrown off, Claire. I can’t… I can’t go again.”

“Why not?”

“Because it upsets him.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Maybe.”

“Then,” she began feeling like she’s really missed something, “why won’t you go again?”

“Because he’s my friend.”

They were stuck in this strange dysfunctional pattern, but it occurred to her that she’d never asked or taken into account that maybe they didn’t mind it. Maybe neither one of them really saw it as unhealthy so much as how things had to be. Claire just thought Jones should be aware, that he should opt out, but he didn’t seem to want that. 

She put down the silverware in her hands and sighed heavily. “He’s a horrible friend.”

Jones looked confused.

“Look, anyone else in the world would be a better friend to you than him.”

“But he hasn’t done anything.”

“Exactly. If you get into trouble or something goes wrong and you need support, do you honestly think you’ll get any from Dan? Do you ever think about that?”

“I… But nothing like that happens to me.”

“If you wanted anything from Dan and he didn’t feel like giving it to you because he was bored or in the mood, you’d never get it. Not money. Not friendship. Not toys. Not anything.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“But you need to accept it,” Claire continued. “He’s—”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Jones said a little louder. “I don’t… It doesn’t matter.”

“But he’s using you,” she said, trailing off when Dan came in. 

He just stood in the doorway looking at them and eventually focusing on her. “Leave it, Claire,” he growled out. “Just go to Nathan’s for a few days. I have things to do and I can’t get them done when you’re in here upsetting him.”

She wanted to argue, but it was true. Jones looked distressed and worried even when she moved away and Dan walked over to him. All of that was her own fault because he didn’t understand what she was trying to say and what she had said probably just seemed misguided and spiteful. 

She gathered some things together and as she left, she saw them in the living room talking and Jones was showing Dan ways he’d discovered to amplify noises from the toy TARDIS.

*

“I only went because I wanted him to… I wanted him to say I shouldn’t go.”

She had stayed away for a week and come back. No one said much about Pingu or Nathan or anything that had happened before or after that awkward moment in the kitchen for the first few days, but apparently Jones had still been thinking about it. 

“I know why you asked him not to, but…” Jones trailed off and sighed. “There’s really nothing wrong. And he’s not a horrible friend. He really isn’t.”

She just nodded a little, smiling a bit and he seemed to accept that before going back to playing music.

“It’s not that I can make him say anything I want him to,” Dan muttered to her sometime later. “It’s just that he usually agrees with me.”

“Right.”

“This is his house,” he pointed before getting to his feet, cigarette in one hand and her laptop in the other. “If he wanted me to leave, Claire, he’d kick me out.”

And eventually instead of trying to do anything, she just kept going to Nathan’s when she’d witnessed too many things going wrong or found problems that she knew neither her brother or his flatmate were ever going to notice or resolve. And sometimes she would notice Dan abandoning an assignment to listen to Jones explain something about music or he’d move back on the couch to accommodate Jones’ forcing his way onto his lap before going back to typing. 

The house never seemed like anything more than that to her, but maybe for Dan and Jones, it was home.


End file.
